Bank of Latvia head held in anti-corruption probe

Latvia’s central bank governor was held by the country’s anti-corruption agency; his house and offices under Bank of Latvia were raided by officers.

An emergency meeting will be held on Monday comprising Latvia’s cabinet. The prime aim of this meeting is to discuss the current issue, while the national security council managed by the president would also proceed to discourse financial matters in the following week.

Latvian authorities came out to reassure the public regarding the proceedings with the financial probe involving Ilmars Rimsevics, governor of the Bank of Latvia and member of the European Central Bank’s governing council. Rimsevics was questioned for almost eight hours on Saturday.

Dana Reizniece-Ozolaana, Latvia’s finance minister said, “We are facing a crisis of the international reputation of the Latvian financial system”. However, Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, held his ground to state no signs of any financial threat to the nation.

It has been noticed that, this isn’t the first case when a bank has been questioned in Latvia. A number of banks in Latvia have undergone investigations in the past few months.

Last July, two banks were charged for permitting their clients to evade international sanctions averting payments to North Korea.

Till now, Latvia’s Corruption Prevention Bureau hasn’t offered any details concerning the investigation, or the specifics of the raids. The Bank of Latvia didn’t comment on the issue, but mentioned it had "zero tolerance policy” with regard to corruption and other unlawful activities.

In addition to this, there have been serious concerns focused at Latvia’s financial system. The level and source of deposits associated to non-residents, primarily from Russia and former Soviet states was causing a hindrance in letting Latvia join the euro.

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